Commissions for payment of housing and communal services and penalties for late payment of housing and communal services will be canceled. But not for everyone.
At the end of 2023, immediately after Vladimir Putin, during a direct line, announced the need to exempt privileged categories of citizens from paying housing and communal services commissions through banks and other payment agents, as well as from paying penalties for late or incomplete payment of fees for residential premises and utilities, deputies, almost four years before that Those who delayed the adoption of the relevant amendments to the law immediately took a salute. They introduced the necessary norms into the Housing Code and the president signed a law that limits the collection of fines and commissions. It remained only to approve the list of beneficiaries.
Although the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin mentioned that poor Russians, among others, will be included in it, it recently became known that they are not on the list prepared by the Ministry of Labor. According to the draft of the department, it is planned to exempt from commissions and penalties when paying for housing and communal services: pensioners, disabled people, combat veterans, family members of the deceased (deceased) war invalids, participants of the Great Patriotic War, parents with many children and children from large families who have already turned 18 years old.
Starting from July 1, 2024, all of them will be exempt from the commission when paying for housing and communal services, which each bank and payment operator determines independently. Some, attracting customers, nobly do not charge anything for the service, for others it costs 0.2% of the amount in the receipt, for others – an immodest 2%, and someone sets a minimum payment amount (for example, 50 rubles). When every penny counts, additional expenses to the already considerable housing bill are an unpleasant necessity. Especially if we are talking about low-income citizens, who, we recall, strangely did not get on the list of beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, people with low incomes, like no one else, need support. Even if they now pay an average of 1% of the amount in the receipt, they could save about 600-700 rubles a year. For deputies and officials from the Ministry of Labor, this is, of course, a trifle, but for socially unprotected Russians it is a lot of money. In addition, it is the poor who are usually unable to pay their bills on time, and to all other “joys” they also have to pay penalties for late payments. However, the government’s list of beneficiaries has not yet been finalized, so there is little hope for expanding the list.
Once again, the law will come into force on July 1 this year, which is supposed to save the population the cost of housing and communal services. However, some market experts do not exclude that after banks will not be able to take commissions, they will begin to increase the cost of their services for utilities, and those will boomerang the costs onto end consumers, who will pay even more “commissions” as a result. I want to believe that these forecasts will not come true.
Another point is confusing in this whole story. An exception has been made for the Russian Post. She was the only one allowed to continue to charge a commission from everyone. Recall that we are talking about the very mail through which pensioners and many other citizens in need of support pay for communal services. They say this decision was made because the state does not want to deprive its company, which is not in the best financial position, of additional income. According to the deputies, the Russian Post accepts payment for communal services in offices, and more than half of the payments are made at points in rural areas. 9.3 million people pay bills in them every month, and if you take away the right to receive a commission from the “postmen”, they will lose our labor penny…
Elena Khakimova.
Photo: LEGION-MEDIA
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